Why can’t Mom speak up? Aranea thought in shock as wolfkins carried them down. They brought them to the very bottom of the fortress, into a place known as the Ice Cave.
This was a sort of prison for wolfkins of the Ice Fang order and also a place of meditation. The wolfkins were coming here to remember their distant homeland or to meditate on their mistakes. The walls were covered with ice, and the temperature was bitterly cold. As guards left Kalaisa and Aranea in the middle of the room, next to a table with some food, Aranea whimpered from the cold.
Her mother embraced her, hugging her close. Kalaisa was still growling slightly, but now it was a desperate growl, as a note of fear and despair was creeping into her voice. For what seemed like an eternity, Aranea and her mother hugged each other, and slowly Aranea regained control of her speech.
"Mommy, I am sorry, so sorry!" She mumbled as white mist came out of her mouth. Kalaisa's belly was becoming dangerously cold, and Aranea could barely feel her own feet. "I didn't want this to happen, I didn't mean..."
"A…ra..ne…a" Her mother half spoke, half growled, in a voice that scared the girl. Never before had she heard this tone, it sounded like some monster tried to parody the speech of her mother, "You are… not guilty… Do not blame… I love you… I… save… you." Kalaisa threw her head to the ceiling and howled. This was not the sound of her mother. No. With sudden dread in her veins, Aranea understood that this was the sound of someone she had heard for the first time.
And then all hell broke loose. Ice cracked on the walls. The ice, as thick as the entire floor of the building, just cracked under the ferocity of the howl. The body of Kalaisa grew, flesh was tearing through her clothes, and her fur came off, revealing white skin beneath. Her legs thickened, her jaw changed shape, and an amber light from her eyes shot out like a projector light. Aranea froze in horror as her mother, this creature she had become, picked up Aranea in her left arm and charged towards the large metal doors. The gigantic metal doors crumbled when Kalaisa reached for them with her right paw. The creature tore the right door clear, a door that was bigger than Kalaisa herself. She threw the remains of the doors behind herself and charged outside. The corridor outside became narrow, and the creature lowered herself on three limbs, running toward the end of the corridor as some sort of beast, still holding Aranea close to her chest. Shoulders scratched the walls, and stone was shattered under the pressure.
The creature reached the stairs and ran upward. Kalaisa slammed them into the walls, defeating four knights in full power armor as easily as a group of children in the path of an adult. The mighty creature left their broken forms behind as she charged toward the fortress's exit. Aranea silently prayed to the Spirits that none of the knights would die.
Steel and stone were torn asunder by the ferocious assault of the weird beast once known as Kalaisa. She broke into the main hall, ending up on the balcony. Two stairs to the left and right led to a floor below, a large pool was under the balcony. Only two large doors separate escapees from the world outside. Kalaisa lunged from the balcony, aiming at the doors. Someone jumped, crashing into Kalaisa. All Aranea could see was a blurry image of steel in the air before her mother, and Kalaisa growled in pain and agony, hitting someone with her free paw. Both opponents pushed away from each other, Kalaisa landed before the pool, a large cut marked her right paw, causing it to dangle on a piece of flesh. Her bones were cleanly cut, only muscles held her hand.
Her opponent, the wolfkin in gold and blue power armor, crashed his back into the doors, landing on his feet with a groan. The sword saint, who was present at the council, now stood before the creature, all dignity and pride gone from his posture, replaced by caution and pain. The sword was in his paws, the armor on his side was torn asunder, allowing a torrent of blood to dirty his armor and showing the white bones of his ribcage. He fell on one knee, breathing hard.
"All these years of training, and for the first time I failed to see the blow…" He whispered, looking up, one paw was on the wound, the other was holding his blade, "Let the girl go, monster. I know not who you are, but I will sooner die than let you hurt…" He stopped, as if he understood something. "Aranea? Girl, is that you? What happened to you?"
"Cold," The girl managed to whisper with her still frozen lips, "So cold. Mom suddenly became strange." She tried to say more, but all her strength left her.
The sword saint looked shocked. He removed his hand from his wound and placed the tip of his sword on the floor. He moved forward carefully, as if trying not to stir up a great beast. The strange creature that held Aranea stopped, cocking her head to one side in curiosity. Drool fell from her mouth, watering Aranea's fur.
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"Kalaisa?" The sword saint asked in shock, looking at the creature, "Is that you? You…" He stopped, "I see, I understand now," He bowed, showing his neck to the creature, "Please, put the girl away. I promise I swear to you that she will be safe and sound. I will find all those who were behind this, I will personally drag them to justice." The creature growled in anger, and Aranea saw how the wound on the right arm of the strange beast began to heal, muscles were tying themselves back like knots of rope, "You can’t take her with you," The wolfkin pleaded, "You know what happened to you. If you take her way, it will be just a matter of time… Before the worst happens. I can’t let you take her. She is safe, she will be safe from now on, I swear this on my life."
"Uncle, step back!" A shout from the balcony made Kalaisa turn her back to the sword saint.
Knight captain Tilden, in full power armor, was on the balcony. Aranea only recognized him by his voice. He held a large weapon on one shoulder, pointing it at Kalaisa. Several soldiers surrounded him, and more hurried from the passage behind him.
"You have weakened the beast, now I will put her down! Not even this beast can endure shots from this cannon easily!" Tilden shouted in excitement.
"Put your weapon down, knight captain! If you shoot the disruption cannon here, you will kill the cub!" The sword saint shouted at his nephew.
"Small sacrifices must be made for a good cause! Uncle, we can’t let this beast escape into the city! It's either hers or other people's lives!" Tilden screamed back and took aim at the beast.
"Tilden! You will put this weapon down, or I will butcher you!" The wolfkin in blue and gold armor shouted in anger, "Soldiers! Apprehend the knight captain!" The knights glanced at their captain in uncertainty, "This is an order!"
"Sorry uncle. If you won’t move away from the splash zone, I will have to sacrifice you too for the future of us all…" A pale light appeared inside the barrel of the cannon. Tilden moved his finger to press the trigger…
The cannon fell apart, slicing into three parts, while a new wolfkin in power armor appeared next to Tilden. She held in her paws the same-looking thin sword as the first sword saint.
"You heard your orders. Apprehend the knight captain." With an icy tone, the newcomer stated. Power armor of the deepest sea color clad the lean form of the newcomer. She leaped from the balcony, and Kalaisa followed her movements with her head, turning toward the doors to exit. Each movement of the newcomer looked like she was dancing, and grace was seeping from her every movement. Two sword saints stood before the beast and the exit out of the fortress.
"Camelia. You managed to…" The sword saint in blue and gold said, and his comrade only nodded.
"I arrived when you called. All of us are, rest are landing on the roof as we speak. We need to just hold her back. Not even a skinwalker can stand up against First." Aranea suddenly understood who this person was. Camelia Wintersong, matriarch and head of the Wintersong family line. Keyl told Aranea that in the past, Camelia and Kalaisa had an actual battle between them that lasted for hours, back when the Ice Fang order still served the Wyrm Lord. Their duel ended in a draw.
"Kalaisa," Camelia lamented, "it appears we will never have a proper rematch now. As a mother and as a human being, I have nothing but pity for your situation. But I cannot, and will not, let you take your daughter away. Your life as a human being is over. Please find the strength inside of you to lay the child down and allow us to help you pass on to a new life. By my honor, I swear that your daughter will be taken care of; she will grow up as a happy person, and she will forget the horrors of the past. "
Kalaisa growled and lowered herself for a charge. The edges of the sliced bones merged together, and flesh ran across her arm, sealing up the wound. The fingers of the paw moved. Kalaisa once again had both paws.
"Save her… Protect her… I will…" The skinwalker responded with drool falling from her mouth. Aranea saw two sets of jaws inside her mother’s maw.
"She is too far gone," Camelia shook her head, "I will find whoever is responsible and ensure proper punishment, "Girl, close your eyes and try to sleep. When you wake up, you will be in a warm bed, surrounded by toys, food, and doctors. This, I swear. Ready, Sun?"
"Ready, Moon." The first sword saint responded, raising his sword high, while Camelia moved her sword into a low position, "We will hold her until he comes…"
The skinwalker roared, and both sword saints moved back to the doors, leaving prints in the stone with their feet. Such was the power behind the roar of the beast that even sword saints were found to lack the strength to resist. As Kalaisa lunged forward, Aranea could only see how everything around her became a blur. Only the forms of the sword saints in front of the doors were solid. They moved forward and disappeared from Aranea’s eyes as well, a round circle of steel came into existence before the skinwalker. Gleaming with whirling steel, the circle moved toward the skinwalker, and Kalaisa roared again in anger. Skinwalker punched the circle in front of her with her right hand.
The next moment, the skinwalker was in front of the doors, slamming her head into them and breaking them down. Her right arm was gone, a bloody stump now served her as a shoulder. Deep cuts were on both legs of the skinwalker. Aranea could hear the shouts of the sword saints behind the escapees, yet Kalaisa was already outside, the remains of doors falling on the ground while the skinwalker charged into the city. It was here that Aranea finally lost consciousness again.